/diy/ - Do It Yourself

what do you think about my track?
scale in cm

>>1385304
It looks alright, are the pins also printed? Also, why did you choose the dual pin design? I'd think the extra complexity would make it a more difficult track to print compared to a single pin design, which could simply be a single part printed over and over and attached together with little bits of steel wire as the pins, making it a fair bit sturdier.

Update on D-Bot
The drivers are getting REALLY hot and the printer is obviously skipping a LOT of steps. I've tried to mitigate this somewhat.
I lowered the voltage through turning the pot on the x and y drivers and got this (left) as a result compared to before (right). You can see that the print area got substantially smaller with less drift, so something is better now. I'm going to lower the extrusion multiplyer and the voltage through the pots further and see what happens. Any suggestions?

>>1385321
Post specs of XY steppers.

>>1385324
I know that these must be functional, because I built my printer together with a friend, who used the same type of motor for his printer and they worked great for him.

>>1385321
What drivers are you using? It looks like maybe they don't support microstepping.

>>1385304
Those links are really small, also, what pattern?

>>1385339
As in tread pattern i mean

Would anyone here be interested in crowdfunding a home-made filament production system? What it would be is a bowl with a grinder. Put any old plastic thing in, grind it into dust. The bowl is heated, so the dust will be melted into a plastic sludge, which is then extruded through a 1.75mm nozzle to produce a filament, which is fed onto a roll after passing through a heat sink. Turn your worthless LEGO into print-ready ABS at home! Recycle old or failed prints!

>>1385348
>worthless LEGO
you wanna go senpai?

>>1385348
>crowdfunding
no

So I'm thinking of picking up a printer, I don't have a ton of uses for it but before I pull the trigger ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07BR3F9N6/ ) I have a few questions firstly is that a good beginner printer, what're some good youtube channels for learning stuff? and what are some websites that allow you to download premade designs? oh and finally what's the coolest thing you've done with your printer?

>>1385381
Looks like a Prusa clone, they're a bit more complicated than something like a Monoprice or Ultimaker, because you'll need to assemble them yourselves, but since they're also the most popular printers you'll have no trouble finding helpful guides or YouTube channels. To download premade things you'll probably want to start with thingiverse.com, but the fun is in designing your own stuff. Give Fusion360 a try, it's free for private use and a perfectly capable CAD software, or you can pirate Solidworks if you want to do it properly. The coolest thing I've done was printing a 1:16 fully functional tank turret, it has a socket to mount an airsoft gearbox for shooting, and has two servos to let it rotate and raise and lower the cannon. I'm currently designing version 2.0 of it, which will also have a socket to fit a 5.8 GHz FPV camera, to make it a bit easier to figure out where your shot will go. Planning to print it in aluminium filament this time, to give it the authentic metal shine, and then airbrushing the military green on.

>>1385381
Seems like an all around allright choise, aluminum extrusion body and with that price you probably wont regret it even if you wont be using it too much.

>>1385402
>aluminium filament
didn't know 3d printers could print metal that's pretty cool, is it only certain ones that can do it or can any also thanks for the resources mate
>>1385410
thanks

>>1385417
It isn't really metal, it's metal powder mixed with plastic. But it looks and feels just like real metal.

Has anyone here built their own printer? It would seem like it wouldn't be particularly difficult to put together some aluminum extrusions and a few threaded rods, and now you can just buy standard parts like control boards and hot ends. So at least on paper it would seem like you could put together even a fairly large printer quite quickly.
Then is the issue more one of calibration and precision? Like, in practice is it actually quite difficult to ensure that all axis are indeed at 90 deg to each other?

>>1385448
this is how I did mine.

buy a kit for a discount.
build the kit.
print new brackets cuz they suck
rebuild the gantry to a corexy
change the z axis mounts for more length and stability.
change powersupply and hotend because fire safety
finally buy abetter controller board and call your new printer your own.

>>1385451
so basically use a kit as starting point then modify it so much it barely resembles what it used to be?
I'm not sure about doing the upgrades one by one though, I'd be afraid of it turning out like the Weasleys house from harry potter. I'd rather plan it all out from the beginning

>>1385457
bong architecture.stl

>>1385457
Kinda going through this route atm, got a Tronxy X1 and i've modded it quite a lot already. Gonna get some extrusions soon and make a corexy reusing everything i can from the Tronxy and using it to print parts.

Be sure to thank OP for making a new thread/image every time the old one dies.

>>1385478
It is a thankless job.

>>1385457
I started out with a shitty kickstarter printer from like two years ago and pretty much the only original parts are the stepper motors
unless you buy something which was highly engineered to start with, upgrading and progressively making it better is one of the most fun parts of the experience
this may not apply for you but planning out something like this beforehand and trying to anticipate all the things I've done to it would have overwhelmed me

>>1385480
I appreciate it tho.

I'd like to share my recent discoveries about Igus plastic bearings.

As some of you may know, even though they're great for silent operation, the clearance they have is terrible which results in a high amount of slop. Igus even mentions on their site that the're designed to be pressfit in order to be usable, but doing a proper pressfit on a 3d printed part is quite tricky because you need a very precise bore. I've also tested the RJ4JP model which is advertised as "ready to use for 3d printers" but they too have about 40-50 microns of slop. The only ones that supposedly have the desired tolerances are very expensive at about 15$ for a single piece. Thomas Sandladerer mentions this in one of his videos.

I tried designing a clamp that would let me squeeze the bearing into a proper diameter by fine-tuning the clamping bolt. Even though it worked to get rid of the slop, i found out that the bearing gets deformed into an ellisoidal shape. This results in an unevenly distributed contact surface, causing too much friction for the thing to slide easily on the rod.

And here's the one weird trick i did to solve this - just cut the bearing. This makes the inner diameter a little smaller than it needs to be, so when you insert the rod you get perfect contact with zero slop.

>>1385486
(continued)

Here you can clearly see it mounted on a 10mm rod and the ~40micron gap you're supposed to eliminate by pressfitting the bearing. It works perfectly well with the absolute dirt-cheapest RJM-01 model which you can get for about 1.5$ a piece. Hope this helps some of you out!

>>1385486
>>1385487
Have you considered using circlips for to (mostly) evenly distribute the squeezing force? Those grooves look perfect for one.

>>1385490

Yeah, these grooves are actually meant for circlips - you'll also find the same ones on a regular LM10UU. Their function is not to squeeze the bearing though, it's just for restricting motion on the rod's axis so they don't slip out when the carriage is moving. The Igus plastic is a bit tough and hard to machine, so to get it squeezed just right you need a metal housing with a precise bore and some sort of press to force it in. I mentioned that there are the much more expensive RJUM series (pictured) which have an aluminium housing and an inner plastic sleeve that's split in much the same way as what i did to get it within the desired tolerances.

>>1385482
well it's just that for example if I wanted to increase print volume from 20x20x18cm i currently have to, say, 50x50x50cm I'd have to swap out pretty much every component that isn't electronics. And given that these are widely available for cheap, I thought that one might as well design their own printer "from scratch".
That said, building a kit definitely helped me understand how it all works so designing a printer without having never used one would probably be overwhelming for most, indeed.

This is the power connector from my printer, does this mean I need to turn the temp down???

>>1385514

Maybe you're just using the wrong gauge/thickness for the job, what does an unburned version of the connector look like?

>>1385486
>>1385487
It shouldn't be too expensive to manufacture a precice steel collar into which you can just press the bearing that you can just ziptie to you printed parts, why don't they do it?

>>1385514
Oh shit my connector runs hot af well and has some scorch marks, hasn't failed yet tho. Gotta love that chinese quality.

>>1385547

I don't know, it might be a cost-cutting thing? Or maybe they assume the bearing is to be inserted inside an SCVUU-type bearing block. I've thought about using those on my printer but they significantly increase the weight of the carriage so i never ordered any.

>>1385550
I actually feel safer knowing I've directly soldered the cables and not worrying about that chink shit quality

>>1385564
It seems just weird, i mean it's just a steel pipe with a very precise inside bore, nothing more, why would it cost so goddamn much?

>>1385572
Yeah i might do that as well at some point, it's just that i've got an external powerblock. Would have to put on a switch so i can power off as well but that ought to not be an issue, just run one of the wires through the switch, right?

>>1385589

I have no idea - the RJZM bearings are exactly what you described, but they sell for about 10-15$ a piece. Your average printer uses about 8-10 of them so it quickly adds up to over 100$, perhaps 60$ if you source them directly without a middleman.

>>1385589
>>1385602

>>very precise
>>why would it cost so goddamn much?

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2537701 Print these bushings, they can be customised to exactly whatever it is your printer happens to need. I've actually replaced the Z bearings on my A8 with these because of how much better they are. They weight nothing, and they actually glide smoother than the shit the printer comes with.

I just got my printer, what would be some good test prints that help me get into this but wont just be laying around?

>>1385623
Rubber band pistols! Easy to print, and fun to goof around with.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1631519

>>1385327
2.5amps is very high for the stepper drivers typically used in 3d printers. 1-1.2 amp is more normal. You can get your beefy motors to work, but you might really need to crank down voltage (half maybe?) or get external drivers instead of the one-chip drivers that come with most boards

Post drivers. Do you have a multimeter?

>>1385320
the pins are just unused fillament with the ends melted onto the outer links.
i chose to make them like this because they are smallso i wanted the layer lines to be inline with the track for (hopefully) the most strength and printingthem like this its doesnt need mush supportmaterial. and i also like the look of it

>>1385347
amerikan style tracks (line the patton or abrahams)

>>1385652
I got the printer to work!

All that was wrong was that the pulleys on the motor driveshafts were slipping. Tightened them up and there we went!

Now, next problem...

Remember how I said that I have a Volcano Extruder? Well, the problem and blessing with that is that the extruder motor cranks out insane amounts of plastic because it prints so much and fast. This means it gets rather hot.
Now, one may consider a plastic motor mount, and the tensioner to keep the filament feeding also made of plastic. See where this is going?
Long story short, I need a new extruder motor mount because the Volcano burns so hot it'll literally make your printer melt from the strain.

>>1385683
America currently has seven types of track in use, and historically has used over a hundred different types. The Abrams (?) track is a derivative of the WW2 M3 Lee track, basically a widened double pin with a rubber chevron.
The best track currently in use is the "UralVagonZavod" track, as developed for the T-14 systems, which is a very narrow all-metal dual-pin track.
Yours seems to most closely resemble the T-14 VVSS Standard track for the late-model Sherman tanks, but your links are far too wide (by about half). In actual use your track would be very inefficient and cause unnecessary wear on the drive train, as it forces you to have few and widely spaced sprocket teeth, as well as laying ineffectively around the wheels. Slim the links down before you proceed.

>>1385684
Get the aluminium Mk9 extruder, Geeetech makes one but I'm sure you can find countless other manufacturers.
It isn't a real solution though, without adequate cooling the heat will travel up along the filament, and it should never reach the extruder in the first place. Do you have a heatsink on the hot end mount? If not, get one. If yes, get a bigger one. Do you have a fan? Same deal there.

>>1385698
>T-14 VVSS Standard track
*T41 VVSS Standard track, sorry.

>>1385592
Mine uses an external power brick so that is permanently attached and will be a bit of a hassle movie it, the printer itself has a power switch on the front but I always unplug it when not in use as the power brick always seems to be warming which is disconcerting

>>1385708
>external power brick
Anyone ever tried powering a printer on batteries? It should be easy enough to rig a 11.7V LiPo to a Prusa clone, but how long would it run?

>>1385612
Yea yea but it's still just a stwel pipe (doesn't even havw tp be steel) you could have a machine cranking out a thousand of these babies a minute.

>>1385683
Ah yes i suppose that is a good way to do tracks, printing them sideways like that is very smart. I would suggest using 1mm mild steel wire for pins tho, much stronger, just insert and twist the ends.

On the subject of tank tracks, here's a track i designed, it is loosely based on the ones found on the t-72. It is mean to use with solid roadwheels as i figured that those would be the easiest to print. Unfortunately i can't really print this track on its side without supports atleast but they still manage to hold 50kg of weight before breaking. They are 5mm thick and 20mm long with 2mm holes for pins.

OP, thanks for including my project in your pic, lemme explain my problem now.

I decided to make a Unity simulation with a C++ library that would control virtual legs first, see camera, and do shit. Once tested, I would build a real one, ideally the C++ core wouldn't even tell the difference.

Dropped, because it literally has no objective, that essentially killed the motivation. Wat do?

>>1385789
Make it pass obstacles.

whats the best (and easy to build/prebuilt) auto leveling 3d printer on amazon uk for around £300, £400 max looked at buyers guide and nothing fits

>>1385803
Why auto leveling tho?

>>1385820
I'm unsure how to level, is it something a newbie could do?

>>1385822
Very easy. I'd recommend using a feeler gauge instead of paper if you have one though; paper's not as consistently thick as people think it is.
https://youtu.be/ED1Gxvw2Rmw

>>1385822
Don't worry about it, there are many easy methods of doing it from using gauges to test prints to just eyeballing it. I personally just eyeball it and then do a test print to get it just right.

>>1385822
It's literally just making sure everything is square and the z-height is properly set.

>>1385739

The average printer with a heated bed consumes about 250W, do the math. You need at least 20Ah like to run it for an hour. Pic related weighs about 3kg, costs 250$ and the recommended current should be below 20A so you might need to get something a bit bigger than that. You could extend that printing time to 2-3 hours with the same unit if you don't use the heated bed.

>>1385930

(forgot my pic related)

>>1385930
>>1385932
What about the best case scenario? Printing pla at 190C with those cool stepper drivers that can operate in powersave mode and with the lightest possible extruder and so that moving it wont take much energy.

>>1385950
And with an extruder that is extremely well insulated, wrap that shit in glass fiber.

>>1385739
>>1385930
So a better idea is to power it on a diesel generator.

>>1385950

the stepper drivers aren't the thing that consumes the most power, it's the heaters. You're looking at 40W for one hotend, and 180-200W for the heatbed. Wrapping up the hotend in glass fiber might reduce the amount of time current is pulsed to the heater, but it needs to be done in a way that would prevent heat from creeping up past the meltzone, otherwise you will start getting clogs.

Your best option is to use a lead-acid car battery and disable the heatbed. They are cheap enough to where you can easily get capacities like 72-90Ah that would guarantee power for 10 hour prints without heatbed. Downside is that they take a day to charge, weigh about 19kg and can leak unless you get AGM-types.

This begs the question as to what's the point of running a printer on batteries - it's not portable unless you stick to small prints that take an hour or two. And why would you even need a portable printer - to print while out camping? The main advantage of batteries that i can think of would be to prevent failed prints due to sudden power loss, in which case it's better to just hook up a UPS. If you're able to connect the control board to the UPS's communications port, you should be able to have it pause the print and move the hotend off to the side when it gets alerted of a power failure. That way you won't even need a large UPS.

>>1385966
>UPS
...
Fuck, I forgot that those exist. I was going to basically invent my own...

>>1385966
I've had my heat up times halved by putting a few layers of aluminum foil around the heater block, i can't fathom how energy efficient it would be if you would wrap the whole block up in insulation so thick that when at 200c the outside would only be warm to the touch. I kinda wanna do it, think of all the electricity you could be saving! And as for heated beds, not required for PLA the true economical choice! Both in quality/price and electricity costs.

I made this with my 3d printer
AMA

>>1385988
>AMA
what is it

>>1385988
Is that a 2D printer?

>>1385789
>Wat do?
Turn it into a camera platform that can follow a target?

>>1386025
>>1386031
Looks like a pen plotter to me.

>>1385698
yes i know they are reletivly big compaired to the real tracks, however was to difficult to make them the correct scale at the size i am printing.

>>1385750
yes probably it will. but with a 4cm wide track, so 2 times 5cm per link and about 100+ links thats around 10 meter of steel wire. and then for 2 tracks that is 20 euro. this is basicly free because of leftovers. also its probably plenty strong enough if i will beleave >>1385761

>>1385988
so u made a 2d printer with a 3d printer
but can the 2d printer print a 1d printer?

Super fast Volcano Benchy printing at incredible hihg speed

>>1386194
That is probably the worst Benchy I've ever seen that didn't outright fail at the first few layers.

>>1386192
>use the 2d printer to print pic related on a piece of paper
done

>>1386196
Well I ain't installed a 1mm nozzle to look pretty, I'll leave that to the DLP and SLA guys. I installed it to make rock solid parts really fast.
So what I can tell is that I got problems with stringing, thin narrow structures being printed vertically fast and bridging as well.
So I assume I need to increase retraction, actually configure the fan to turn on when printing those super narrow vertical structures and during bridging, and...? Any ideas?

>>1386199
lower extrusion temp?

>>1386199
I have one like that at work, printed with a 1.5mm nozzle.
I love how everyone who passingly heard of 3d printing and knows nothing about it assumes im shit at 3d printing.

>>1385348
It's called a screw and NiChrome wire.

>>1386194
that bent smoke stack lol

>>1386197
>done
but there is the proofs

>>1386199
I think your layers might be too tall. You want each line laid down to have the same profile as pic related, yours look more cylindrical. Try raising your retraction to solve the stringing, and what plastic are you using? PLA or PETG you'll want the fan to be on for everything but the first layer, ABS you'll want to keep the entire print roughly equally warm, so keeping the printer in an enclosure is the reliable way.
Another cause for your stringing might be temperature. How hot are you printing? You can try lowering the temperature by ten degrees or so if retraction doesn't quite help. Too hot plastic will run too well, and thus ooze out even if you use retraction.

>>1386249
And of course I forget the picture.

>>1385348
Plastic extrusion is extremely fucking difficult to get that 1.75mm consistent. Parameters need adjusting depending on the plastic being recycled.

>>1386369
That's the point of my special extruder. The hot end is one nozzle of 1.75mm, then there is a bowden tube of 1.75mm to separate the hot from the cold, and then the filament is pressed through a cold "nozzle" (really more of a metal cylinder) of 1.75mm where it is cooled down and pressed simultaneously, forming a perfect 1.75mm filament every time from every plastic.

>>1386370
Not the guy you replied to, but have you taken into account die swell?

>>1386382
I had no idea that existed, but I guess it's solvable. The latter half of the cold nozzle could be like a rasper, scraping away any excess plastic and feeding it back into the grinder bowl.

>>1386382
Original naysayer here, this is exactly what I mean, I work in an extrusion profile place and a simple change of material or slight wearing on the tool or a single piece of plastic getting stuck/not melting fucks the entire operation up.

>>1386386
It's solvable but its not a hobby its a job.

I'm completely overloaded with orders and one of my printers just crapped out (control board won't communicate anymore). Replacement part won't arrive until Friday, and the printers I've ordered to help with the influx won't arrive until then either.

This is going to be a really aggravating week.

>>1386544
Have you looked into stepping up production by getting real molds made or having china make a bunch for you?

>>1386199
Why wouldn't you have the fan running all the time?

if you guys were going to buy any printer right now with a 400 dollar budget what would you get?

>>1386616
I have 4 FDM already.
Id save up to 500 USD and get an SLA.

>>1386618
I thought SLA printers were thousands of dollars

>>1386590
he has, the logistics don't work out.

>>1386619
Me too, and for this reason i have never looked. Recently i found a couple of them that are around that range. Wanhao D7 for example, but there are others too. This will be my next buy if i save up a little.

>>1386626
any recommendations for a normal plastic printer?

>>1386628
The cheapest prusa copy you can find. After you build it and manage to get it working well you'll know the basic operation of a 3d printer inside out and then you can start looking into upgrading the machine with an aluminum extrusion frame or making a whole new one.

>>1386631
would that be like a a8 or something? Originally I was going to get that or a tarantula, but then I was thinking on one of the CR10 clones with a bigger build area like a tornado or an aurora a5

>>1386648
Don't go for a big build area 200x200x200 max, it isn't very useful and for the same price you get less performance.

>>1386648
>>1386675
But yea a8 is wonderfull, you get everything that you need really to start, 5 steppers and all.

>>1386675
>>1386676
is the bigger build area a meme because I can just slice models into smaller chunks and print them one at a time? Or is the full build area not usable?

>>1386683

It's kind of a meme because the power required to heat the bed increases exponentially with the increased area. The usual solution is to skip the control board's heater output and hook it up to a solid state relay with mains AC voltage instead. This means you have to do extra safety checks when designing and building the thing so the mains voltage doesnt kill you.

Bigger prints will also take a lot longer to complete, making any mid-print failures and having to start over that much more annoying. If you're going to print a lot of helmets, don't mind waiting and you're confident in the machine you can go for a large build area.

>>1386708
thats one of the reasons I was looking at the tornado, it has a separate heat bed hookup with AC power

>>1386590
>getting real molds made
I started with that.

It's either too labor-intensive or requires way too much start up capital. And most casting resins don't have the material properties I need. Nevermind that most of the part geometries I've ended up with now are no longer compatible with casting.

>>1386683
I've got 150x150x150mm and only very rarely do i find myself needing anything bigger, i would prefer 200x200x200 due to these few cases but i wouldn't want anything bigger desu.

>>1385789
Make it neural network based and have it learn to walk and do shit on its own inside the simulation.
Then once sufficiently trained upload the network into the real robot and have your very own pet robot spider or whatever that thing is.

Are there any web-based 3d model editors that don't require you to create an account?

>>1386918
>web-based
b-but why

>>1386932
Mobility, mostly.

>>1386934
>mobility
Unless you're working from a Chromebook or something with literally zero storage, Blender works fine from a flash drive / SD card

>>1385761
Surely if you flipped that over it would print fine?

>>1386616
tevo tornado
cr-10 s5
prusa mk2 kit (iirc, on the prusa website)

>>1386934
>Mobility
and why dont u want a account so u only have to log in and have acces to all models? instead of carrying it around of a usbdrive and having to insert that into every pc?
also, use a laptop or something, its possible to carry those around ez

>>1386939
>>1386942

Not every workplace lets you bring in your own devices, including storage media.

I don't want an account because I want my work to remain anonymous.

>>1386945
Yeah, I have no idea what you could use. You can't really publish models anonymously unless you just toss them onto a file hosting website and if you can't have storage media I don't know how you're planning on saving them.

>>1386947
Basically what I'm looking for would be the 3d model equivalent of pastebin.

It would be easy to carry a shortlink around, and then be able to work on it from anywhere.

Oh well.

>>1386949
but pastebin is open to everybody. if the security department wouldnt let u use any other devices they probably also wouldnt like every model to be opensource.

but what u might be able to do it use pastbin and just write code for openScad

>>1386940
I meant that you can't print it vertically like the other guy, it print's just fine when you flip it over from its current position, in fact that is exactly how i designed it to be printed.

>>1386544
>>1386806
Honest question, have you ever considered something like https://www.3dhubs.com/ to help with peak demand?

>>1385348
>dust
thats bad it will make weak polymer chains and break down much faster and make inconstant results

My Prusa clone came with a Mk8 extruder, which I tried to upgrade to a Mk9 extruder because I was getting constant filament skips and thus underextrusion. The Mk9 extruder was even worse. Is there something I can do about this, or should I just accept that my printer is shit?

>>1387184
The extruder motor is different from the axis motors, right? They often have different voltage requirements. Open your mainboard case and find the extruder driver, it has a little screw on it. Set the printer running, make it print high layers like 0.3mm or something similarly demanding and start slowly turning that screw glockwise, i had to turn mine 1/4 of a turn to stop skipping.

>>1387275
And emphasis on that turn slowly part, i'm not sure if it is a ppssibility but it would make sense to me that you could damage some componenets with too high voltages.

I lit my extruder on fire while clearing a PLA jam in the goddamned PTFE liner, possibly via thermal runaway. Monoprice Maker Select Plus with stock extruder, except for a DiiiCooler. Only other mod is TUSH with clips.

Replacement extruder won't be here until June.

So I guess I need something to do with my time.

>>1387301
Lmao how?

>>1387304
Ran the hotend outside of the extruder without fans, with the thermistor and heater hooked up so I could preheat the assembly and ram through the PLA.

Then there was smoke. Lots of smoke. Cue yanking of plugs and chucking the hot end onto the balcony.

>>1387305
And here's the fun part: My original plan wouldn't have worked, because there was a big fat blob of PLA sitting on top of the liner, just large enough to prevent it being shoved into the liner.

The end result was a nice, jet-black ring around the heater cartridge, blackened ceramic insulation on the heater block, and bubbled Kaptan tape.

>>1387307
Hmm yeah thermal runoff i suppose, unfortunate. Did you manage to locate the cause?

>>1387308
Best guess is damaged thermistor/thermistor leads/molex connector on the interconnect board. I didn't fuck with it, though. I'll test it against my multimeter's K-type thermocouple tomorrow.

>>1387309
You ought to update the marlin on your printer, it should have thermal runoff protection.

>>1387317
The printer runs custom Monoprice (Wanhao) firmware, not sure if Marlin would run on it without significant dickery. I already know that I'd have to replace the LCD, for one.

>>1387320
Oh ok

>>1387001
I've tried farming out prints multiple times and I get very mixed results. It was okay in a pinch when I didn't have space or money to buy another printer, but I don't have that issue anymore. There's more than enough demand available for me to just continue expanding my print farm.
If you want a reasonable price, you end up waiting longer for the parts. Most of the hubs I've worked with are also pushing their printers to the absolute limit so you get fairly rough parts or lousy dimensional tolerances. 3dhubs has also gotten a lot worse in the past 8 months as they are trying to turn themselves into a Shapeways alternative instead of version of Uber for people with printers. They're shafting over their entire network of contractors and making things harder for customers. The one or two hubs I used to work with I will now have to get quotes from directly via e-mail instead.

But neither of them can provide parts in a way that helps me with demand. I had previously decided to only use external printing services if I want to stockpile certain parts that customers tend to order replacements of, or ones that have print settings that make them difficult to squeeze into a running job (different infill, different perimeters). But by this weekend I'll have a printer setup just for those types of parts, and it's and issue I could more directly solve by getting a more sophisticated slicer.

Could PLA be strong enough to support 100kg with a printable hook if you made it 100% infill? for example this carabiner https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2565902

>>1387391
Is that mag a print? if yes, Didn't thing you could get that clear prints with transparent filament, or is it a specific brand?

>>1387443
Or ABS. for that matter.

>>1387443
>Could PLA be strong enough to support 100kg with a printable hook if you made it 100% infill? for example this carabiner https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2565902
Yes. Assuming that hook is 1cm by 1cm, took 42MPa shear strength from the internet (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9de8/bf994403cd10c7fd68b723105be132a3d49e.pdf))

>>1387443

It's not as simple, strength depends on many factors. PLA isn't "weaker" than ABS, it's just more hard and brittle. Parts are more likely to snap off. Depending on the printing orientation you can have layers delaminating if stress is applied in a direction perpendicular to the layer lines. Alternatively you could make a PLA hook with equivalent strength to an ABS one if you design it with thicker walls.

>>1387457
>PLA isn't "weaker" than ABS, it's just more hard and brittle
isn't it the other way around?

>>1387508
Nope, PLA is hard and brittle while ABS is a bit softer and tougher

>>1387443
It's not really all that possible to calculate when it comes to prints since it matters so much how well the print comes out, which settings you used etc. Testing is the only way i would do it. But from gut feeling i'd say it ought to hold with the optimal settings.

>>1385381
>>1385402

I have an Ender-3 I received about a month ago. It's a pretty solid printer with just a few flaws, mainly the print bed is too thin and bowed in the center, so I added glass, but I hate using clips to keep it on.. and the bed isn't 220x220 its 235x235 which means i have 15mm of unused space around the perimeter. There's been a couple tricky things here and there, but it's been pretty good.

>>1387275
It's an Anet board, the stepper drivers are little ICs under big heatsinks. There are no potentiometers anywhere on the board.

>>1387275
>>1387586
Haha, you want to hear something funny? It looks like I managed to snap the filament off inside the cold end tube when I was upgrading the extruder, and I got a cold clog from that. I noticed it while I was changing back to the Mk8 which at least let me get tolerable prints. Cleaned it out and reinstalled the Mk9, and am printing a test tube now, but it doesn't seem to be skipping at all now.
Thanks for trying to help me, but my idiocy is beyond you.

>>1387627
And here's the cube. There isn't really any improvement over what it printed like before, so I guess filament slippage wasn't really my problem, but at least I can print again.

>>1387443
>Could PLA be strong enough to support 100kg with a printable hook if you made it 100% infill?
I've found that 100% infill makes the part stiffer, but can ruin dimensional accuracy and introduce added thermal stress into the part. If you need the outside of the part to be accurate in dimensions and you don't want to induce stress in the final piece I find it more ideal to just print with increasingly thicker perimeters/walls.

Or more ideally redesign the part to give it more strength where needed.

>Is that mag a print? if yes, Didn't thing you could get that clear prints with transparent filament, or is it a specific brand?
Completely dependent upon brand. But really clear/translucent parts tend to look shitty in my opinion. Letting just a little bit of light through looks nice, but I don't want to be able to tell where all the infill is.

There's a bit of variation in retraction and temperatures settings that will produce nice prints with less opaque filaments.

>>1387301
I lit my anet A8 motherboard on fire while printing a bracket to hold the mosfet I had just bought. I thought "well.... I'll just do this one more print so I can install the bracket and the mosfet at the same time."

Two weeks waiting for the replacement mainboard to show up taught me a lesson about voltage management.

>>1387795
Are any of your printers stout enough to become a router? You could cnc out of solid plastic faster than you could print.

>>1387868
Doubt that, i'd figure that even for plastic you would need a frame and kinematics that are designed for the job, printers are designed for almost the exact opposite, they're designed to be light and fast while still maintaining precision.

>>1387868
There's plans for printing router frames and you can use a lot of the same control parts for them. They're purely XY, though.

>>1385803
auto leveling is shit.
the headache of it is not worth the minute or two it takes to do a manual level once a year or so.

So what 3D modeling software does everyone use?
https://www.strawpoll.me/15716095

I bought an Anet A8 and am nearly finished assembling it. Problem is, the carriage where the extruder will be (x-direction) is very hard to move. Realigning the linear bearings is no use, they are aligned. If I press the two guide rods together it becomes acceptable I'd say. I don't feel like the rods are bent, more as if they are spreading to the right. Does anyone know if I can fix this? The fixtures of the rods are completely static, so I feel like this is just manufacturing error. I might just put a ziptie to pull them together...

>>1388147
>I don't feel like the rods are bent
Sure sounds like it. Either that, or your towers are misaligned. Maybe try loosening up the two tops that enclose your x rods and then retighten them when everything feels good on your x.

>>1388140
creo

>>1387980
>Once a year
Is this normal? I'm having to manual level every couple of prints; it's never off by much, but definitely enough where it'd get me worried not leveling it.

>>1388179
I level every 5-8 prints or so, yeah. I think it's per-printer, based on the vibration and how tight everything is.

if im grabbing a CR10 should I shill out the extra for the s version? or should I just get the 10 and put a new motherboard in it and eventually get a 2nd zaxis later

>>1385739
I tested mine on a car battery once. It worked.

>>1387868
>You could cnc out of solid plastic faster than you could print.
Even if true that big block of plastic is going to cost WAY more than a whole spool of filament.

>>1388140
Solidworks for functional things, Blender for statues and D&D minis.

>>1388140
I learned on inventor and I'm very lazy with learning new tools
It's not the fastest or probably even the easiest but I know what I can and can't do

My first 3D printer is in the mail (Monoprice Maker Plus).

What software do you guys prefer for designing and slicing objects?

>>1388257
>>1387301 here

I generally use Slic3r devbuilds when I don't need support, and IIIP-Cuda which comes on the disk when I need to print something with supports.

Slic3r does occasionally have this issue, though, which I've reported to their devs.

>>1388265
>>1388257
As for modelling, I'm using FreeCAD, although my current project requires passages cut in a valve body that need to be out of alignment with planar surfaces.

>>1388257
Also, when you get your printer, realize that you will spend a lot of time levelling it. Learn to do that. What you're doing is setting the distance between your nozzle's oriface and the print bed, which should be something like 0.2-0.3 on a 0.4mm nozzle (which is what you get with the printer). A single sheet of printer paper is helpful, but you have to make sure the pressure on that sheet is about the same on all four corners. All the vibrations and shit from printing can knock it out of alignment, so you have to tweak it every now and then.

A dial indicator would be helpful, as you'd be able to level one corner of the bed, and then use the dial indicator to see how far off you are on the others. Here are some examples: https://www.amazon.com/Dial-Indicators/b?ie=UTF8 (You'll have to print a bracket.) I have also seen some people recommend metric feeler gauges, but they seem pretty hit and miss for me.

Start out simple, don't fuck around with mods and stuff yet until you know what you're doing.

>>1388274
Oh, and one last tip: be gentle with that shit on your bed. It's supposed to improve adhesion, but you can gouge the shit out of it with the scraper they give you because it likes to over-adhere, and gouging makes it worse. I've found that putting down some wax (initially from wax paper, then from orthodontic wax I special-ordered) massively helps release builds from the BuildTac without damaging it, and you can fill in the scratches with it.

Preheat the bed to PLA temps, dab on a puddle of wax, quickly and gently rub in with a paper towel.

>>1388280
Thanks alot for the great info! I've read that a glass bed might be the way to go eventually, but I'll definitely go with the wax for now.

>>1388288
This printer doesn't have an adjustable z-stop, which I'd consider essential for something like glass since one wrong move and you have broken glass fucking everywhere. All those holes and lines you see in >>1388280 are from me fucking up the levelling and the nozzle crashing into the buildtac. Glass also has problems getting stuff to adhere, and some filament materials, like ABS or PETG (I think), can damage it permanently.

You don't want to be going down the rabbit-hole of trying different build-adhesion methods (glue, tape, etc) when you're just learning the basics.

>>1388294
This guy knows what he's talking about. When I first got a 3d printer I spent weeks dicking around with all sorts of crazy adhesion methods. Brims, rafts, glass beds, aluminum plate with hairspray, praying and burning incense to the goddess cura to bless my prints, human sacrifice under a full moon, heat settings, filament types and brands. Nothing worked and I was damned near ready to throw my printer off a cliff. I ended up deciding to just chill out, get some plain jane PLA, and to use blue painters tape. Like magic things started working.

If youre new stick to basic easy to use and apply stuff then work up to more advanced shit. Otherwise you'll end up wasting a ton of time and filament trying to do something you dont know how to do yet.

>>1388274
If I even give my A8 a stern look or speak too loudly in it's presence it loses its level. Every single print I do starts with leveling the bed. A8's are fun for learning but I lust after better equipment. I have calluses on my thumbs from trying to turn those goddamned bed leveling wingnuts. I tried to add some covers to the wingnuts but only succeeded in making the area that my thumbs get abraded by the friction larger. I need to upgrade to a Prusa or something.

>>1388348
The Monoprice Maker Select Plus I am learning on is great, other than the occasional irritant: It has a big solid steel frame, so there's next to no ringing from the extruder moving around, and that's with it sitting on a big neoprene soldering mat, which isn't exactly a solid footing. They have also gone through enough iterations to have fixed most of the bugs and issues.

Om the other hand, the firmware is custom, so I don't know how customizable it is. The frame is big enough to get in the way when levelling the bed, so that process is usually a bitch, especially if you preheat the bed. The ribbon cable for the X-carriage has a mind of its own when it gets to the top and can block the X-endstop. The wires for the extruder fans are tight and a bitch to get off. The extruder fans have awful bearings and squeal right out of the box until they warm up. They also have reversed polarity and molex connectors.

Finally, ANY spool mod for the printer is absolutely fucking necessary since it's not big enough for most 1kg reels. I use TUSH and a filament guide.

>>1388353
Im using a $150 chinese bootleg clone of the Anet A8, which was already a cheap chinese printer to begin with. Its..... pretty ghetto. I can actually get good quality prints but doing so is a maintenance nightmare. Something is literally ALWAYS out of alignment, breaking, or malfunctioning. Whenever I print its basically a 15 minute full kit check, leveling, pre-heating, check the level again, then print. Prints awfully slow too. Something like a spool holder takes about 4 hours.

>>1388348
My CTC is the same, which makes sense since it's basically just an Anet clone. I've ordered a bed leveling sensor on ebay and printed out a bracket to hold it, so I'll be waiting a few weeks or so for the sensor to arrive, then do a firmware upgrade, and get on with enjoying a printer that doesn't need constant attention.

One thing that can help the printer keep its leveling is glueing the nuts in place once the bed is proper and level. Apply a dab of acrylic model paint to the edge between the nut and the bolt once the bed is level, and let it dry. It'll hold the nut in place from vibrations, but you can easily just poke it away with a screwdriver if you need to readjust later on.

>>1388355
Well, print time is dependent on your slicer's algorithms, the nozzle size, the volume of the object, how much fill you use, etc. The machine just goes to where the G-Code points it to, at a specified rate. A spool holder also takes me around four hours on a 0.4mm nozzle.

>>1388356
hadnt thought of that, I'll try it on my next print and see what happens.
>>1388357
I develop a wobble along a random or multiple axis when I go too fast. Nothing crazy when im making stuff that doesnt need precision, but my ultimate goal is to make a reciever for a VZ 61 skorpion so I need to dial in my rig. Im presently in the middle of making some frame braces and joint brackets to try to combat this. aim also going to replace the linear bearings and rework the belt tensioner system.

>>1388365
Yeah, usually wobble is a problem with the frame twisting and wobbling under stress and happens with plastic, acrylic, or other soft materials.

>>1388419
even just the pair of frame brackets and some settings adjustments have already done wonders though.

>>1387868
>You could cnc out of solid plastic faster than you could print.
Heh, he definitely could mill out something out of HDPE or Nylon, but it would take a 4th axis (or several jigs to help him mill both sides reliably) to do pretty much any of his parts. It would be an even bigger pain in the ass than it already is.

>>1388427
Couldn't he just rig up a robot arm with a drill in that case?

>>1388434
The quill and bearings on a drill can handle thrust loads but not radial loads. Routers and mills work fine provided you have a chip-clearing method that prevents melting. But we're talking about equipment that's even more expensive than printers.

>>1388434
That would cost 10-20 times more than a mill with 4th axis. Also, when you look up close they move like someone with parkinson's, so they're good for welding and pick and place, not for fine detail milling unless it's an even more expensive one

>>1388462
Thats why 3d printers exist in the first place, because you can fabricate something with a similar level of precision and quality that some guy with a $100,000 CNC mill or injection molding setup. I can make stuff on my shitty A8 that would require a $10,000 mill to produce via traditional methods.

>>1388525
>I can make stuff on my shitty A8 that would require a $10,000 mill to produce via traditional methods.

...no. No you can't. The dimensional accuracy will be worse, the surface finish will be worse, and never even mind the serious material limitations. A cheap Chinese CNC _router_ stands a good chance of making better parts than a 3D printer, never mind an actual VMC. Proof? Take a micrometer to your part. Hell, for a cheap printer like the A8 or MP Select, even calipers will do. You could manage better tolerances on a fucked-up Bridgeport than you could on your average FDM printer.

The strong point of additive manufacturing is how little effort is involved in getting a usable part. Geometry that would be difficult, requiring multiple setups and/or a 5-axis machine, can be done with no intermediate steps. Even some features that are flat-out impossible on a mill, like extremely concave or totally-enclosed surfaces, are doable.

No current technology can replace a mill/lathe/VMC/whatever. The closest you can get is laser sintering, but getting into that will run you into prices comparable to a new machine, anyway. This is why you don't see machine shops ditching all their machinery in favor of shelves full of Lulzbots and Prusas. They simply don't do what is expected of production machine tool.

>>1388547
Suppose he was talking about just that, making sufficiently accurate parts for extremely low prices. No sane man would ever claim that any fdm machine could rival the precision of a milling machine.

>>1388547
Ignoring the fact that infill can save upwards of 90% on material cost and weight and that tolerances are subjective. FDM fills a need that previous tech has no way of addressing, that's not something you can just write off.

Look what came in the mail boys, now my Tronxy X1 gets a cute little heated bed for that ABS printing. And yes i know it's a bit small (only 120x120mm) but it doesn't weight much, it's very stiff and it can still do the 150x150x150 provided that the models base fits the 120x120.

>>1388601

Looks neat, but isn't 150x150 too small?

>>1387301 here

Last of my parts shipped today, should be here by tomorrow, including my BLTouch.

>>1388742
Not at all, i've only run into issues on a few occasion and i believe that i will be just fine even with this 120x120mm bed
>>1388601
Now that i've actually got to the assembly part i'm kinda stumped on when it comes to wiring this thing properly, i mean i've got it attached to the bed just fine but what do i do with these 5 wires when i've only got 4 holes???? Also does it matter which way around i plug the thermistor? but even then i've got 3 wires leftover, what do i do with them? plug two into a same port?

>>1388774

Check the pinout? Seriously what kind of answer to you expect without a pinout... "Yeah just jam it in either way idk"

>>1388777
Here's the pinout but i'm what you would call electrically retarded and i've got no real idea what all of this mean other than that -HEAT and +12 are probably what actually power the bed.

>>1388778

OK, +12V and -HEAT are your positive and negative terminals that power the bed. For some reason however, this bed doesn't use a standard 2-pin thermistor input, but a 5V digital circuit that outputs a signal back to the electronics board instead of a resistance value. There has to be a page in the manual about that...

>>1388789
>manual

>>1388789
>>1388793
Ah interesting, after some searching i found this in the comment section of one of these beds on sale, a lot of very good information.

>>1388789
>>1388789

I just looked at the aliexpress page, this is definitely some chinese mystery meat heatbed, i've never seen one like that and i have no idea what it's meant to hook into. It says "MK2B" and "Mendel" but it has nothing to do with the Mk2B beds or any sort of Mendel... It's like calling a bicycle a Ford Fiesta.

That SMD component in the middle *might* be a thermistor but even if it is, we have no clue how many ohms it is or what kind of brand it is in order to assign a suitable thermistor table in the firmware... Is this bed meant for the Tronxy or is it some random aliexpress item?

>>1388798

Oh cool, looks like someone already did the detective work. I guess you can just hook up SIG and GND to the thermistor inputs. You can use a generik 100k thermistor table in Marlin, not sure how accurate it would be but it's something...

>>1388802
It's not specifically for the Tronxy, just some rando but it seems to have a lot of people on different websotes selling it and a lot of people buying it so i figured that i might as well give it a shot, it's only 10e with free shipping anyway.

>>1388805
Do i need to adjust my firmware or can i just plug in the bed? Also, how do i adjust my steps per mm on the z-axis, i changed my threaded rod to one with a different lead.

is the cr10s worth 80 bucks more then the 10. I think the only really worthy difference is being able to flash firmware

>>1388822
Nvm got the z-axis adjusted, configuring melzi hardware is really easy with repetierhost.

What kind of connector do I need to buy to make everything on the hotend quick-disconnectable?

This one should work well for the thermistor and print fans. How about the heater cartridge?

>>1388921
Forgot pic related

>>1388921
Molex pin connectors

Heat transfer and attachment aside, anyone try steel sheet beds? I'll be able to source 0.5mm 316 SS plating from work suppliers and I'm wondering if an electropolished 2B plate would suffice for PLA adhesion considering I don't print with ABS for the time being.

>>1388936
They're called mate'n'lok according to /ohm/

How about 4.2mm pitch connectors?

>>1388949
I'm not sure about adhesion but it would work wonders with an inductive sensor.

>>1388547
problem: I need a bracket of X dimensions with Y diameter holes for light to medium duties.

solution prior to 3d printing: Hope to god one exists, otherwise hire a machinist or injection molding protyping firm for mucho grande dinero to make it. If you dont gotoney you must modify your entire project to fit the fact that you dont have the part. Were talking hundreds to thousands of dollars.

After 3d printing: 3 hours on a computer, load apropriate filament into the extruder and load up the gcode. Make as many as you want or need for a few cents a pop.


Pretending that 3d printing didnt make custom manufacturing, something which was previously the sole puview of extremeley skilled people with prohibitiveley expensive equipment and democratize it for the masses is asinine.

>>1388990
Another solution would be to make it out of wood or modify an existing bracket.

Would PLA be strong enough for oscillating fan blades?

>>1389058
I dont see why not, atleast at lower RPMs and inside a cage or some sort of cover like that so that if anything does go wrong you dont get hurt. That being said, ABS or nylon would be a better option.

>>1388566
>tolerances are subjective
I don't know, a millimeter's a millimeter pretty much everywhere. I don't think that poster's "writing it off", just offering their viewpoint.

As far as I know, cast/forged parts still can't be completely replaced by sintered parts (let alone FDM) due to their material properties. Everything's got its role to fill.

>>1388822
>>1388870

Yes, you need to recompile the firmware to enable the bed thermistor, unless it's already enabled. You can change the steps/mm for any axis and store that value in EEPROM. Normally if you had configured the electronics yourself you wouldn't be bothering with the EEPROM and just recompile the firmware with the new settings. But this being a pre-made deal, unless they provided a Configuration.h you have to start from scratch. You might want to look into how to do the config process for a whole printer, it will make it easier to update to the latest versions of the firmware.

>work in warehouse
>box gets damaged
>customer says to throw it out and let the insurance reimburse
>throw it out
>realise it's full of zip ties
>tens of thousands of zip ties
>fill my pockets
>never going to need to buy zip ties ever again

>>1389095
I buy the releasable ones from Ace and Amazon for cable management and they are fucking godsends. I never have enough, though, especially of the big fuckers which are only sold in 5-per-bag and are always in short supply.

>>1389058
You'll want something with more flex like ABS, nylon, or PETG.

>>1389102
Start working in a warehouse man. Just smash a box of zip ties and take it home.

Yo can you help me with a problem with my Monoprice mini select V1? The stepper motor for my feed just shakes and buzzes when it's supposed to feed; I've checked continuity on the motor itself and the wiring and it's all good (I believe 2 ohms on both poles). I've also checked the motor bearings and rotor/armature cleanliness and everything's good there...so could it be an issue with the PCB? Or the program? Should I just toss the printer and buy something better/newer?

>>1389133
the extruder motor? did you check the voltage from the driver? did you check if the nozzle is clogged? Is the idler wheel too tight/not tight enough?
Not really familiar with your printer though so maybe some of this stuff doesn't apply.

>>1389133
Find the extruder motor current adjustment knob on your board. Then start printing aomething while at the aame time slowly turning that knob clockwise. I had to turn mine 1/4 of a turn to make it work.

>>1389143
Nozzle isn't clogged, idler wheel is loose and I double checked by pulling the motor out entirely and manually trying to move it back and forth. I haven't checked the voltage yet but will when I get my fluke back in the morning; what should I be looking for? 24VDC?

>>1389147
The monoprice doesn't have any adjustment knobs, sadly.

YOu guys are fucking awesome for replying at all. I'll definitely check voltages as soon as I can; is there a way to tell if the board failed on me?

>>1389153
well my board has these drivers (A4988) and by turning the small screw just underneath the heatsink in pic related you can adjust the voltage to the stepper, usually between 0.8-1.4V (though i think recommended is 1-1.2V so as to not overheat the motor).

However as you replied to the other guy your printer doesn't seem to have these so I'm not really sure.
Maybe some other anon more familiar with your printer will come along and help.

>>1389153
>>1389157
I just realized you mentioned your idler wheel being loose. Ideally it should leave some shallow marks on your filament (well, the motor gear does that, but it's the idler that if tensioned enough will push the filament into the gear).
You can find some photos on the internet of the marks that should be left on the filament if the idler is tensioned correctly, and the ones that you'd see if it's too tight or too loose.

>>1389133

- Does the motor do that without any load on it?
- Did it work before?

You might want to check what feedrate you have set for it, it might be pulsing the coils faster than the rotor can handle.

>>1389153
>no adjustment knobs
Are you sure? Post a picture of the mainboard please.

>>1389198

Not the poster, but i've checked images for the "Mini select V1" board and it really doesn't have any. Some versions have them but usually the trimpots aren't soldered on. Really this type of shit is to be expected with "cheap brand-name pre-built" printers. There's always some small basic functionality missing...

>>1389203
Prusa kits generally also come without pots. It's ridiculous, but what can you do really.

>>1389203
Maybe you can adjust it in firmware?

>>1389231

if it's using digipots you can, but i highly doubt that as they're more expensive than regular potentiometers and are usually found on the hi-end reprap boards.

>>1389236
>>1389231
>>1389208
>>1389203
The development boards have pots to let the engineer tune the settings for the steppers the product will be using. The boards you get with the finished product just have resistors soldered on, it's both a bit cheaper and less of a hassle having to explain to moron customers how to tune this shit.

What you can do is get a better power supply. Reprap prusas and that shit usually comes with transformers "rated" at 30A, but they generally only put out something like 18. Get a better power supply and odds are your printer will work better, cuz when the consumption reaches the top of the amperage output, the voltage dips and you get brownouts.

>>1389242
I've geard of some people using pc PSU's. Should i just salvage one of them and figure out which two cables provide 12v?

Here's the last iteration of the sprocket hub for the go-kart. I decided do do 4 different crescent shaped parts, 2 on both sides of the sprocket. There are 4 bolts going through them to make it rigidly attach to the sprocket and then two exhaust pipe holders to tighten it against the axle. All parts are printed at 1.2mm wall thickness and 100% infill, the parts are extremely rigid.

>>1389253
>figure out
ATX power supplies are crazy well documented already mate, they've been around since the 80s. https://allpinouts.org/pinouts/connectors/power_supply/pci-express-pcie-6pin-power/

>>1389266

>>1389266
>>1389283
Wait, you're 3D printing basically a motorcycle chain sprocket? I'll advise against it mate, even with the best equipment 3D printed plastic is going to be weaker than injection moulded, and you already don't see injection moulded plastic used for this type of shit.

>9 months printing diddly squat for other people
>guy from instagram asks me to print him a toy robot
>suddenly awash with orders

If I had 12 printers I could do one of said robot every 4 hours, but then I'd probably have no orders at all after printing a few robots. How do you deal with queues, /3dpg/?

>>1389286
He's just using it as a spacer

>>1389286
>>1389291
Nope it actaully attaches the sprocket to the axle and transmits rotation to the axle. To me it seems plenty strong.

>>1389292
So it's actually a spline-spacer-thingy

My guess is that it will work fine in the beginning, then the gap between that shaft tab will slowly increase over time but tell us later how it performs

>>1389289
By taking commissions, not orders. A guy who wants you to engineer as well as produce something will pay off better than a dozen guys who just want something produced, and you don't need a bunch of printers running 24/7 either.

>>1389306
Any tips on how to start a "comissions" bidiness? Do I just create a website and find a buddy who is an engineering student?

>>1389309
I ran mine out of facebook, but then I was also the only guy in town with a printer.
>find a buddy who is an engineering student
If you want to split the money with someone you'll have to work twice as hard. My business worked because it was just me and my three printers. I'd start a job, and then CAD the next project while they were printing (40mm/s was the top back then). If you don't know solidworks, learn it, you don't need any sort of degree for a 3D printing business. Another option is to learn Blender and set up a deviantart. Some people pay good money for shit like little statues of their World of Warcraft characters, and you can usually just mail that shit across the country cheap since it'll be 10% infill.

>extruder cooling fan loses a fan blade somehow
>now makes a terribly racket

I have this sort of weird "reverse elephant foot" type deal going on. If you look at the left edge of this you can see that the dimensions are correct both at the very bottom and the top two thirds, but the bottom one third sort of shifts inward for a little bit. What kind of problem is this? I've got my other settings tuned in pretty well, but I've got no clue what this might be.

>>1389378
>extruder fan has literally nothing wrong with it
>still makes a horrible noise

>>1388747
New parts arrived. And everything fits, except I found out that Monoprice/Wanhao uses a nonstandard heat block with different thermistor holes. I checked a few suppliers and they're sold out of the proper Wanhao-style blocks.

Any ideas how to get the temp sensor to stick in there reliably? I have thermal paste, kaptan tape, and stupidity. I cannot go back to the old block because the insulation burnt on and cannot be removed, even with sanding.

>>1389455
That's an odd temperature sensor. Can you open it and get the thermistor out? Easiest would be to just glue the thermistor right in there. The issue is that you want the thermistor connected directly to the wall of the heat block, so just glueing the threaded bit in would leave a large air gap and make the temperature reading very inaccurate.

>>1389455

Better look for a screw-in thermistor online, any jerryrig you do isn't going to be ideal. What's the diameter of the heater block's hole, M3? Alternatively you might try with a glass bead thermistor if you have one laying around, like we did in the ol' days.

>>1389459
It's designed to fit into the Wanhao I3 Plus temperature sensor hole, which, for some reason, is a threaded hole in the stock block and is usually shoved in with some heat paste and retained by a screw with a massive washer. This sensor I have is an upgrade, since it's embedded into the screw and has less chance of shorting out like my old one did.

>>1389466
I just went ahead and ordered some new blocks from Fargo, which come with the same holes.

>>1389468
Aforementioned block

>>1389466
He could probably use heatsink/fan paste as filler, and then seal the whole thing with some sort of heat resistant and nonflamable putty.

>>1389133
i highly suggest getting a new power supply for the mini select
iirc, i hooked up a 12v 20a psu for mine and my stepper skipping problem went away so far

>>1389491
>20A
30A*, i mean

>>1385789
So I still wonder what should I do with that project, and meanwhile, I came into conclusion that ABS plastic is actually garbage. It cracks, so the whole leg could fall off one day, not even mentioning that I would like it to hold some payload. The battery itself weights 0.6kg.

What if I redo this with metal sheet? For example, the part marked on pic related could be redone with just right laser cut out of sheet metal. That would be super reliable to make, and I have small vise (something like this https://cdn3.volusion.com/qguhd.nbmzu/v/vspfiles/photos/IRW3-2.jpg)) to bend it in right places, but some questions arise:

1. How thick should I pick the metal so I wouldn't collapse on itself? Taking into account that I would manage to design the legs right.

I bought a pack of metal servos off ebay (something like https://www.ebay.com/itm/SR403P-lipo-7-4V-13kg-cm-57g-180-deg-rotation-metal-geared-2BB-Robot-servo-/141013537093))
It says 13 kg/cm of force but I am, being brainlet, having difficulties with calculation on how much of the lever they can handle. For example, the main servo that would lift the robot up has more or less of 16cm of lever, that would mean it can carry 0.8kg, having 6 legs gives me ~5kg of payload right? But wait there's more, if I stop being a retard and lift the robot using two servos I would be able to carry 10kg? ABS would snap instantly.

2. How thick metal I would be able to bend with simple vise and hammer?

>>1389500
God damn it, the ebay listing has been removed, SR403P is for reference.

>>1389500
You shouldn't just bend your metal in a vice, it will make a poor quality bend and could damage the material. Use a hand bending tool instead, it's basically a large, hinged handle.
What I'll recommend for you is to do this out of 2mm thick aluminium. That's what the chinks use for the servo hinges they sell on ebay, and it offers good strength while still being malleable, and without weighting a lot.
Or you could just buy premade servo brackets, they don't cost a lot. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=servo+hinge&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xservo+bracket.TRS0&_nkw=servo+bracket&_sacat=0 Easily fits standard hobby servos too, going by youtube it seems to be the most common way to build hex bots (which I'm guessing is what you're trying to do).

>>1389500
You could replace that weird Czech hedgehog-looking part with two halves that you could print in a better orientation and join later using solvent bonding and screws to hold them while the solvent does its job. You've picked the worst possible orientation for that part in my opinion.

Are you printing on an open printer?

I'm assembling a prusa mk2s. Just finished assembly, now I'm on the calibration step. Anyone have advice of what to check? I spent a ton of time getting the y-axis square and the x-axis parallel to the heat bed

>>1389505
Fugg, having pre made ones would be much easier, thanks for the advice. Having metal round brackets instead of plastic ones would be also very cool.

But the bottleneck now is the servos themselves. I have mounted them to the legs by literally screwing them with tiny screws (the black ones on the prev pic), how the fuck would I fix that? If I somehow tight servos up in some sort of metal boxes, and then secure them with those screws, would that be ok? I did that once with cheap plastic servos but there was no payload like this. Wouldnt the pressure damage the servos?

>>1389518
Have no idea, I did order one leg for testing out and didnt finish the rest because I was disappointed.

Now I am wondering if I can make a decent recon robot for my gay-ass airsoft games. That would mean it has to be very damage-resistant as if someone could step on it.

>>1389531
>That would mean it has to be very damage-resistant as if someone could step on it.

How about making an airsoft-battle-robot instead? It can shoot until its actually destroyed. Airsoft-robot battle-royale would be something like 20 robots in a field, the last one running wins.

Like my robot wheel tyre? It's a sewage plumbing o-ring. What do people use for transmission for wheeled robots? I could sell just the wheels and o-rings since there aren't many available in my country that aren't the same chinese wheels or expensive as fuck.

>>1389388
is it consistenly along the same axis every time?

>>1389558
There's airless tire designs that look neat.

As for transmissions, there's apparently something called OpenRC that have gear designs, might be a good place to start.

>>1389577
Looks really complex. Why not just a pair of GT2 pulleys?

>>1389586
Ultimately pulley systems deliver less power than gearboxes.

I have a plain Anet A8, no mods or anything. Can I print ABS just by adjusting some settings? I've been using PLA up until now. I've done a bit of googling but it seems like most people have modified their A8 somehow. I know ABS needs to cool slowly and not have much cold airflow or anything like that. Can I just shut off the fan on the extruder, turn up the temps, and put it in a room without much airflow or will the increased temperatures on a vanilla A8 cause it to self destruct?

>>1389652
before you start cranking heat up to ABS levels you really need to get a mosfet installed. Fellow A8 owner, watched my mainboard catch on fire before. Dont do anything involving that kind of voltage load until you atleast install a mosfet for the extruder. Ideally you would install two, one for the extruder and one for the heated bed.

>>1389626
But they're more reliable than printed gears

>>1385192
did the anon with the script to rip models from websites ever post the github download link?

>>1389676
So just install some mosfets and have at it? I read some people saying their beds couldn't heat up high enough without melting connections or something along those lines, and some people saying that their beds worked fine at 90-100 degrees. Is the stock bed, or any other parts, ok as long as I have the mosfets to prevent a blazing inferno or will my prints still fail and burn my house down?

>>1389725
We are dealing with chinese bootleg electronics here, nothing is garunteed. Start low and slowly increase your settings during dry runs while monitoring your connections for de-soldering or excessive heat where it shouldnt be. Maybe you will need to upgrade your hot end or heated bed too.

I'm just saying an absolute minimum is to use a mosfet. Always monitor your connections too. Make sure they arent loose, hot, or broken. Monitor ypur machine while it prints as well, it cant burn your house down if you dont leave it alone.

>>1389203
>>1389242
>>1389231
Thanks for keeping the conversation going on my problem, guys. No pots for adjusting or anything of the sort, like you mentioned. I'm guessing maybe I need to try reinstalling drivers/firmware, and if that doesn't work I need to try maybe buying a better 3D printer or trying to build one for myself. The monoprice seemed pretty good at first but I've had a lot of problems lately and haven't even made my way through one full spool of PLA.

>>1389760

You could just get some better electronics for it, unless there are problems with the motion system.

>>1389564
Yes.

>>1389388
If you used heated bed, you should lower the temperature. If you didn't, you should turn on part cooling fan( or increase the speed)

>>1389807
My heated bed is running at 50 degrees, which shouldn't cause PLA to run, and the parts cooling fan was already on. I'll give it a second shot with the bed unplugged entirely I guess.

>>1389808
>>1389807
Nope, didn't help.

>>1389388

What plastic is that, ABS? Looks like heavy shrinkage to me.

>>1390065
PLA. The problem is that it prints perfectly at first, then it does that weird shrinking thing on only one edge, then it prints the rest perfectly.

>>1389505
So I've played with the idea for a while and came into some kind of sheet solution. There's a service nearby that will laser cut 2mm aluminium, bend it and even weld it as I want. Going to put servo in that welded box, secure it with screws, and then put some plastic strips around the holes on the sides. Other parts could be done similarly by designing right cutout with welding in some places.

How do I take into account the actual thickness? Would the service be able to bend it right in place so all I need is just add 2mm into account on each side?

Not sure if this thread is still related, but I don't want to be the faggot that pops a thread for each individual problem.

>>1390072
What is your first layer nozzle temperature? Try putting every setting concerning the first layer to the same as every other layer. Fans, temp, etc.

>>1390072
>>1390130
Oh wait, it's only on one side? Maybe a bent z-screw?

>>1390130
>>1390132
First layer is printed with 200 degree nozzle and 50 degree bed, same as the rest. First layer is done without the print fan, which comes on at the second layer and then stays on. But the issue starts happening at like the tenth layer, so I don't think that's it.
Yes, it's only on one side. I've rolled the Z screws over my table and they seem straight.

>>1390072

If it's only on one edge you might be getting some radiated heat from the heater block remaining a bit longer over that particular corner. There's a few things you can attempt to get to the bottom of it, one being to rotate the model 90degrees on its Z axis so that corner goes to a different place on the bed. If the corner is now fine and another one shrinks, then what i described above is likely the issue.

If not, you can try
- Increasing print speed to have less of a chance of that part heating up,
- Increasing the perimeters so that the wall is thicker and less susceptible to shrinking
- Adding more bottom fill layers so that part has 100% infil until it goes past the height where it's all fine

>>1389790
Check the linear bearings on that axis to ensure they are properly aligned or not worn out. Also check the stepper motor to ensure its not skipping, that the gear or belt havent stripped any teeth, or that the belt isnt slipping. Additionally you can check the belt tension along that axis.

>>1390129
>How do I take into account the actual thickness?
Not that anon but use the material centerline and bend radius to calculate lengths. You could just guess, test a bend, and adjust original lengths accordingly. Minimum bend radius(inside) will be somewhere in the ballpark of the material thickness.
>add 2mm into account on each side?
add 2mm to the inside size(1mm per side to get to centerline, so only add 1mm to a plane with only one bend) then minus a tad bit for the length you'll gain from it being a radius instead of an actual corner.

As for a service that cuts and bends, give them the finish dimensions if they do the bending.

>one hour until need to sleep
>3 hours of printing to be done

I need more fans, or corners are going to get curly

>>1390180
May would have a shed for his printer though, with all the tools hung in alphabetical order on hooks on a corkboard, all of which is placed at perfectly straight angles. He wouldn't be at all bothered by the noise, not that his perfectly greased and calibrated printer would make a lot of noise in the first place.

>>1390181
He would also have one of those grocery vacuum packing machines restaurants have, to store away his filament rolls after use, and the shed would have a top notch AC to let him print anything without an enclosure.

>>1390184
>only put filament away when changing it for another colour to then leave on exposed on the printer

>>1390072
Do you have only one fan blowing from one side? This could be the reason. Why it happens only on the bottom I can't say. Maybe a bed is disrupting an air flow or heating up the air, so it is not cold enough or something.
Try providing some additional cooling on that corner and see if it helps. Can you show a picture of the printer and position of hotend in relation to the problematic edge of the cube?

>>1389388
ur printer is shit m8

Send help

Is the official printer of /diy/ still the monoprice printer?

>>1390397
Which monoprice printer?

>>1390397
Mby we ought to have a strawpoll about that? Include it in the next threads sticky so that everyone votes?

>>1390397

I doubt any monoprice printer was ever an official /diy/ printer, i mean look at the posts above - they don't even have trimpots.

>>1390437
In the past it has been the Maker Select 3D Printer v2 because it has had some very good sales.

Is putting the printer in an enclosure (e.g. the ikea desk thing for prusa) and then fanning everything out of the window once printing finishes enough to not get cancer or whatever else ABS fumes cause?

>>1390586
You would have to exhaust the gas constantly, because it produces it as it is working.

>>1390188
Same, and I live along the Scandinavian coast so there's a fair bit of humidity, and yet my PLA prints just fine. My point was that May would overdo everything.

>>1390397
>>1390449
>>1390575
I think you get the message without translating

>>1390675
PLA does not suck moisture.

>>1390733
Doesn't it? I've always heard that PLA should be stored dry since it's hydrophilic, being basically sugar and all...

>>1390733
Oh, is that why I see so many PLA storage boxes and drying racks on Thingiverse?

>>1390733
>>1390742
Every plastic takes up water. Some more some less. Some are affected by it more some less.

>>1390184
>vacuum packing PLA
This is actually a good idea. I have one of those tiny home ones because my mom has no clue what to give me on my birthdays, maybe it can finally be useful. Until now I've only used it to vacuum pack a few things if she's coming visiting so she doesn't think I hate it.

>>1390760
>my mom has no clue what to give me on my birthdays
Prepare to get your mind blown: Or she knew what to get you exactly.

>>1390724
there's literally nothing wrong with monoprice printers

>>1390765

Except all the problems people have had with them in this thread alone

>>1390768
You are going to have to be more specific. Cause this and other threads shows people have problems with every printer.

Monoprice being the "best newbie printer" brand is just because one of the moderators at r/3dprinting on reddit works for them. It's shilling, nothing more, nothing less. The perfect newbie printer is a Prusa, because there is an enormous community for them and the (easy) assembly lets you learn how the mechanics fit together.

guys, the best noob printer is the tronxy x1

>>1390771
>Prusa
I disagree. They are way too complex for a beginner. And your talk of a great big community basically means as soon as you post they call you a newb and say read the wiki.

>>1390774
can confirm, tronxy a best

>>1390776
>way too complex for a beginner
>literally send out detailed instructions with every box and also list them on the site
???
You sure you're not thinking of the shitty Chinese knockoffs?

>>1390779
There are like what 100 different makers of prusa varients. Not sure what you mean by saying they all have detailed instructions. Many don't.

>>1390770

Extruder motor not getting enough current with no way to increase the current is something i've seen in this thread and another on in /g/

Also you do realize Monoprice don't actually make their own printers right? They just resell stuff you can find on Aliexpress

>>1390776
>>1390779
I meant the official Prusas, which do come with good documentation, have an official customer support (can't vouch for how good it is, I've never called it, but it does exist), and the community will point you to wikis that actually do contain useful guides about this shit.

Even the knockoff Prusas aren't that bad though. I started my 3D printing with an Anet A8, and was able to get it printing in three hours, with only pretty rudimentary hobby electronics skills (RC planes). Prusas are cheap, have a good print volume, and are pretty damn easy to assemble for being kit printers.

>>1390774
I mean yeah sure but goddamnit i have not been able to flash the firmware even after hours and hours of trying. So no heated bed for me which means no ABS, gotta wait for that ramps 1.4 from aliexpress.

>>1390777
trips confirm

>>1390794
>official Prusas
There is no such thing.

>>1390784
>They just resell stuff you can find on Aliexpress
Well of course gearbest and monoprice are using chinese printers. Everyone knows that. But I don't see the exact printer on aliexpress.

>>1390866
>no such thing as an official Prusa
You don't know what you're talking about.

How much would /3dpg/ charge for this? It's roughly half a shoebox worth of parts.

>>1390886
Depends on what the part's for, how long it took to print, the quality, and the strength required. I'd probably charge at least $50-75 for the lot, looks like a lot of stuff for machinery/servos/etc.

>>1390771
>The perfect newbie printer is a Prusa
Doesn't it cost like twice as much as that wanhao mini printer? That disposable 3d printer is good even for professional prototyping. One of my customers actually used a bunch of $199 monoprices to prototype toy parts that were later injection molded.

A good noob printer is one that can be thrown away without remorse but prints with good quality and isn't locked to proprietary software/consumables, i.e: the opposite of Cube, which not only is slow as fuck but gives a very bad first impression of 3d printing.

>>1390893
I still think the A8 is pretty good to start with. You mod it up and fine tune your skills and it doesnt print too bad. Use it for however long it takes to git gud then just give it to some teenager who is trying to get started out and get something better when you're done with it.

>>1390939
>Use it for however long it takes to burn your own house down
Fix'd it for you

>>1390886
I too have a box of useless plastic junk
Usually people throw away that kind off stuff.

>>1390940
So go on Thingiverse and follow the instructions to update the software to Marlin 2.1.6 or whatever to give it thermal runaway protection.

>>1390968
Eeh, still not that hot. Even after you swap in new firmware, you've still got the PSU (which needs a switch to separate it from mains), a brittle acrylic frame, and substandard wiring & plugs. Lots of antifun down the road without knowing what you're doing.

>>1390882
Prusa is an open source design. There is no official builds, even from the creator. That is the point. Besides that website didn't always exist to buy from. It was on reprap way before.

>>1390963
They're parts for two toy robots but I only had grey filament, so...

>>1391043
You are treating it like its a long term investment. Its not. Its a cheap throw-away starter platform to learn if you are even capable or enjoy it before you get a better one or just decide not to do it as a hobby anymore.

>>1390184
That kind of vacuum thing also seals the bag, so you need a new one every sealing cycle. Now... how about this one typically used for clothes?

Uuuuhhhhhh, what was the best program to design and engineer plastic parts like the ones sold on Shapeways for transformers toys?
I plan on making a couple of pieces to replace legs and arms and such.

>>1391091
I use FreeCAD. Other people recommend SCAD, which is more of a programming language.

>>1391091
Fusion 360 also seems to be a popular (and free) tool

I just got a mini delta, and removing the prints off the bed is extremely difficult. It's nearly impossible to remove without at least 10 minutes of prying and wedging scrapers under the print.

I've heard of applying blue tape, would that help? Or should I attempt putting something like oven was paper on the bed (it can hold up to very high temperatures and the plastic won't bond very strongly to it).

>>1391134
What is your bed currently made of?
>plastic won't bond very strongly
The whole point of a bed is that so that the plastic DOES bond so your print doesn't curl or detach mid-print.

>>1391103
>>1391105
Thanks, guys.

Last time I asked here someone recommended me Solidworks. How close are those to Solidworks?
I'm completely new to this so I have no idea if I should insist on that, though.

>>1391147
All of those listed are parametric modeling tools, though openSCAD is a slightly different approach. What that means is that the model is governed by math - you have a base shape that is X by Y by Z in size and you apply holes of X radius and bevels of Z depth, etc. etc.; you can change any operation at any time (though later operations could be rendered impossible if you change early ones). Parametric modeling is commonly used for engineering.

The other side is vertex/polygonal modeling, using programs like 3DS Max, Blender, and Maya. These are much more artistic and free-flowing; instead of working with features, you work with the actual mesh itself, on an individual point/face/edge basis. This is usually used for game models, animations, rendering, etc. (but I use Blender for 3D printing).

Each type has its own pros and cons, so I suggest experimenting or reading up on them if you have the time. tl;dr; Solidworks is a professional program (and also not free), Fusion 360 is a "free" "alternative", and FreeCAD/openSCAD are open-source alternatives. 3DS Max and Maya are professional, non-free programs and Blender is a free, open-source alternative.

>>1390784
Reminder that Monoprice makes modifications to the original wanhao kits. For example, the mounting brackets that seemed to be bent a lot during shipping were only in the monoprice versions of the same printers wanhao sold.

>>1391059
>There is no official builds, even from the creator.

Except Josef Prusa's official company that sells official Prusa i3's. The fact that the design is open-source doesn't make it any less official

Thought of replicating this Tronxy design with a 200x200 bed and linear rails instead of rollers, thoughts? To me it seems like a very simple and good design. It's ok to have those thin extrusions since i'm making it a bit smaller, right?

>>1391212

It would be more expensive but also better. 20x20mm extrusions are not thin at all.

Uhh does anyone have the original Tronxy X1 firmware? Or a firmware that functions with it? I managed to flash my tronxy and no matter how much i tweak the configuration.h i can't get it to work. More specifically when i hit print the extruder does not heat up, neitherr does the hotbed. Interestingly enough i can control the extruder temp succesfully in the menu and all the thermistors seem to be displaying correct temperatures.

>>1391212
Go for it, buddy. Get sliding M3 nuts for the profiles and you can bolt MGN12 and MGN9 to the rails. It will work basically forever.

>>1391302
What FW are you on now? Sounds more lile a config problem if you have some control over temp

>>1390886
You estimate price per hour of printing.

Welp, Fargo 3D printing, who said they had heater blocks on eBay, now say they're out of stock.

So I'm without anyone who makes these fucking blocks, which means I cannot rebuild my goddamned extruder.

>>1391344
https://github.com/dennistimmermann/tronxy-x1_repetier
This thing, first and so far last ive managed to upload to the printer.

Is it me or does PLA print a lot better in cold air? It's like 13ºC inside my house and PLA is barely curling at all

>>1391413
Yikes. Anyway, found a copy on the FB Tronxy group:
/groups/1119103791478149?view=permalink&id=1574484585940065

>>1391461
Oh wow, sweet, thanks, i knew i should have checked out that fb group but man i don't wanna go near facebook if it it ain't absolutely necessary. I'll go test out this firmware right away.

>>1391448
I mean the faster PLA cools down the better if i've understood correctly. That's why the bigger the fan the better, as long as it isn't actually blowing away the filament or something crazy.

>>1391529
>>1391461
Yep, it worked, i suppose i ought to forget my heatbed hopes until that ramps 1.4 i ordered from ali arrives.

>>1391193
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

>>1391583
You looking to get a brick in the gob?

>have super problems with my printer
>doesn't adhere, warps like crazy, comes loose during prints and all sorts of shit
>struggle for a week to figure out the issue
>invite a work buddy who knows this shit over
>"Dude, don't use a fan and cold bed to print ABS"
Turns out the spool of PLA I bought, which is very clearly marked PLA, is actually ABS. He could tell by the smell the instant the printer started. Gave me a spool of PLA which printed great right away.

>>1391606
Which manufacturer? Maybe you could complain and get a freebie?

>>1391615
Some chink, so no chance of that. Traded the spool with my work mate for the PLA spool, since he actually does print ABS, so it worked out. He told me he buys from a local company, so I'll do that too.

>>1391583

>>1391606
Damn that's pretty funny. No wonder he noticed though, ABS sure does smell nasty.

>>1391622
I know that now! It was my first ever spool of filament, so I assumed the smell was normal, being molten plastic and all... But yeah, the receipt says "1kg PLA silver", the roll itself said "1kg PLA", and the seller still has "1kg PLA silver" as the name of the listing.

>>1391134
Blue tape is usually pretty good. The prints will stick to it like glue, but the tape itself with print on can usually just be peeled off right after the print is done, and then you just soak the print in water a few minutes and the tape will come right off with a decent rubbing.

Guys, my printer just started behaving weirdly. When it tries to auto home it does the X and Y just fine, but for Z it just climbs like 5mm and then stops. I haven't done anything strange lately, it's an Anet A8.

>>1391732
Check to see if the z-endstop is stuck closed or open.

>read about "ironing" in the Cura discussions
>try it
Holy fucking shit.

>>1391760
Pics?

>>1391760
Whats ironing?

>>1391796
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzW45MphcK4

>>1391900
ffffuuuuuck! I gotta get cura updated. I think im running a far far outdated version right now.

>>1391760
>>1391900
Man i would fucking love to use cura if it weren't so ungodly slow compared to repetierhost cura.

>>1392000
>slow
Huh? Mine takes like ten seconds to slice anything.

>>1386025
Yep, it's a plotter

>>1386192
no, but I can plot a single spot on the paper
Will this satisfy you?

https://printrbot.com/shop/printrbelt-kit/
Check it out girls, the printrbelt is back. Print majestic unsupported overhangs, or just plain mass-produce shit. The world can be your oyster.

>>1392026
I don't see how it can print unsupported overhangs much better.
This would struggle with overhangs over 45° like a normal printer.

>>1392041
Except the printing is tilted at 45 degrees, so it can handle 90 degrees.

>>1392042
Only the tool is tilted - it still has to work against gravity.
You'd want the build plate to be tilted.

>>1392044
The print is adhered to the build plate, and thus won't topple over. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69hxR5n8cco Slanted printers work great.

>>1392003
Comparing repetierhost cura to the most updated cura is like night and day, and yes sure it'll still do it in ten seconds if the model is simple but ive had my slicing take like 5 mintes when it only took 30s to slice the same model in repetierhost cura.

>>1392052
Okay, so how long does it take you to slice something simple in vase mode or with ironing with the Repetierhost Cura?

>>1391900
Is it actually worth it? Does it cause any other issue?

>>1392063
If you care about smooth top surfaces, yeah, it's worth it. The issues it can cause is that it will prolong print times a bit for anything wider than it is tall, and since you are running the nozzle around over already extruded plastic to melt it, you can cause overheating flaws on certain types of prints (narrow or pointy stuff mainly), but that can be resolved by tweaking the settings.

>>1392046
Interesting, i wonder what the max overhang is on the opposite axis, cant be too close to 45°

>>1392057
Vase mode is very simple and unsuprisingly very quick. Also unfortunately repetierhost cura lacks ironing.

>>1392112
From the other direction the top overhang is probably very small. The printer prints at a 45 degree angle so that's the theoretical maximum, but at that point you've only got a single line adhered to the belt, the rest of the print is just freestanding. It's a reprap printer, so let's go for the Prusa 10mm maximum bridging capability with PLA. In practice, that only works when you're printing between two points, anything that curves away is going to break the bridge. So I'm going to go for "-30 degrees to 90 degrees bridging capability. If you're designing stuff to be mass produced, which is where something like this would shine, you can probably just either angle the thing so that it isn't a problem, design it so that it only overhangs significantly in one direction to begin with, or simply print with supports. That's the kind of printer you would set up with Octoprint to simply print, then spool the band around so that the print pops off into a bin at the end, and print again. Over and over. If print strength goes up with better technology, so that it can compare not too disfavourably to injection mould, something like that is probably what an industrial printer will look like.

>>1392113
Oh, they've added vase mode now? But it's fair to say that Cura is still way better than Repetierhost Cura, since one does actually support ironing.

>>1392118
Oh yeah it's better if better means more features but for me personally so far i can't say that it's worth it. I'll admit there are thinga are repetierhost cura cannot do but other than those it just werks. And it's really fast.

>>1392026
how does one even set this up for their slicer considering the extruder is at an angle?
also, is there an open source build of this or similar?

>>1392263
As far as I understand it there's a plugin that lets Cura do it, otherwise you'll have to use the special slicer some RepRap guy developed a few years ago. The Printrbelt is Reprap, and thus fully open-source.

>>1392026
What the actual fuck

>>1385789
>>1389500
Try building something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMSNBLAfC7o
It's a spiderbot that can adjust its gait for leg failure

Thought I would run an idea by you guys before I try something. Plan on trying some PETG this weekend, but my throat is teflon lined; I'm worried the heat is going to burn it. I've got some nrass tubing that's @ the same ID as my teflon; assuming I can center it in the throat, will it work like an all metal, or is there something I'm missing? Anyone try anything like this before?

401 posts and on page 9.

>>1392420
- A teflon-lined hotend should be able to print at 230C so i dont see the problem for PETG
- The reason chinese knockoff hotends use a teflon liner is because they can't machine the inside bore of the heatbreak to be as straight and mirror-smooth as the expensive ones. If the surface is too rough you'll have the plastic sticking to it, causing clogs and jams.

>>1392606
I'm worried about these liners specifically; had a couple clog up on PLA occasionally and discolor. I've got a v6 all metal on hand I need to make a bracket for, just making hotend parts out of PLA seemed sort of unwise though.

>>1392631
I mean the bracket doesn't touch any hot parts now does it? it'll be fine, don't worry.

>>1392638
More worried about heat rising and softening the bracket (PLA starts to soften at 60C).

>>1392651
Yeah but i mean there's the fan blowing on the heatbreak or whatever. As long as that is kept cool the bracket will also stay cool.

>>1392631

Have you considered buying a genuine E3D v6 heatbreak? I'm talking just the heatbreak, so you can just ditch the liners.

>>1389718
pls respont

I'm getting weird artiacts on what SHOULD be a flat surface in Slic3r; I can't think of anything that would cause this - those shapes start above where the flat area is and shouldn't stretch that far down. In addition, not all of them are showing up - it's only these 3 patches, despite the rest of the model having many more of those shapes.

What's the issue here?

>>1393028
Of course as soon as I turned it into tris the problem disappeared. Go figure.

>>1392915
>I'm talking just the heatbreak, so you can just ditch the liners.
It works the same as a chinese clone

>>1392606
>straight and mirror-smooth as
>you'll have the plastic sticking to it,

There is going to be a plastic buildup even on original E3D heatbreaks. After the first time the heatbreak is used it makes no difference at all if the inner surface is "mirror-smooth", because it will have plastic stuck to it anyway.